Game board



L. COFFIN Jan. 15, 1935.

GAME BOARD Filed Feb. 23, 1933 066 90600 ,OGGO O GOOGOOGQ a 0 0.0000069 Louis Coffin 411% A amws'rs ooooo 90000 1 00000 00000 @00000 [00009 m 000 n 0@0w 0 00@ o 0@0 o0 oonmwommo oooo 0 o xommo o@o@o v Patented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED TA-ms PATENT OF E This invention relates to aperforated game board and pins insertable in the perforations, the

board and the pins being adapted to be used in playing. a number of different games. The invention likewise has for objects the provision of.

such means which are simple, sturdy, and cheaply produced, and in which the parts are readily.

replaceable. V v These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and illustrated in the.

accompanying drawing wherein .Fig. 1 is a'perspective view of a board and pins of the present invention as they .might appear during the progress of a game.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a modified form of.

board; Fig. 3 is a' cross section on line 33 .of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail" view of an accessory of the game.

. The game board 1 may be rectangular and is provided with a suitable base 2 enabling the board to be positioned upright on a surface 3 and between two players. The board, in the construc tion shown, is provided with two similar groups, 4 and 5, of perforations. Certain other perforations are provided in the base, which will. be

referred to in describing their'use. A. plurality of pegs or'pins 6, insertable in and adapted to project through the perforations, are likewise provided. These are preferably difierentiated from'one another, singly or in groups, by means of colors, numbers, or shape -by numbers as herein shown. These parts constitute the chief equipment ofthe gamealthough, in the playing of the various games, a pencil, chalk, or the like may be utilized for a purpose to be described and certain plats, sheets and'minor equipment. The game herein illustrated as in. progress might be called Battleships and isplayed in the following way: the two players sit facing opposite sides of the board 1, the perforations 4 and 5 being empty and the players provided with a plurality of the pins 6. One player,making use preferably of some erasable marking means, ;.such as chalk, places an enclosure or line around'a number of arbitrarily chosen series of the perforations in one of the groups 4 or 5-in the group 4, for example. The series of four perforations might be each called a battleship, as seen at 7 and 8. The series of three,'shown at 9 and 10, might be called cruisers and the series of two indicated at 14 and 15, might be termed destroyers. e player on the other side of the board 1 in a similar manner, arbitrarily defines another set of ships on his side of the board and in the group of perforations at the end opposite 'side of the board arbitrarily places an enclosto skirt the enemy lines.

.that marked byhis opponent-the group 5 as herein exemplified. The positions of the enclosures arbitrarily placed by one player are, of

course, unknown to the other player so that each player must shoot" at an unseen target. Play 5 then begins. The player, each taking his turn, inserts one of the pins 6 through a perforation .in the unmarked group on his side of the board in an endeavor to place it vwithin one of the enclosures of his opponent. Play. continues thus 10 and when one of the series of perforations within an enclosure has been filled with pins, that ship is 'sunk. The first player to. sink all his opponents ships is accounted the winner. So

that each player may be kept aware of thenum- 15 ber of hits he has made, each 'sideof the'base 2 may be provided with two'lines of perforations or sockets arranged each in a four, a three and a two series, as indicated at 11, 12 and 13, re-' spectively. When a player makes a hit, his opponent informs him of the type of ship struck, and the player so scoring inserts a'pin of the same number as the scoring pin in the proper series of. the sockets 11, 12, or 13, so as to keep in mind the casualties and positions of 25 the opponent. 3

In a variation of the playing, each player may fire a broadside or three or four pins each turn .insteadof only one. For such play the pins are differentiated in groups rather than singly.

It is obvious that the perforations need not be provided in separate groups such as 4 and 5, but in this case the players must select different areas in which to insert their respective pins in order to avoid accidental registration of an enclosure with-one on the opposite face-of the board.

Other games may be played with the game board 1 and pins of this invention. For example, in playing the game Scouts, a player on one ing line around several small groups of perforations. These groups might be called regiments or "companies. The player'on the opposite side,

using one pin, the scout, attempts to advance. his scout, one perforation at a time, from one point on the board, to a selected distant point, without' advancing, the scout into one of the enclosures, to be captured by a company. The

scout is to be warned, when his next direct move would lead him into a, company, by the other players stating that the scout is sighted. The scout then changes course in an endeavor If he succeeds in reaching his destination. he. is victor;-if he ad'- vances: intothe'midst of a companyflhe is captured.

Variations and forms of games other than those cations of the means themselves, such as special arrangements of the perforations, contour of the :series of perforations.

board, and the like, become apparent upon consideration of the means described;

In Figs. 2 and 3, another form 16 of the game board is illustrated. Herein, theboard'portion comprises two similarsections 17 and '18 which may be held together fiatwise-by means of socket and stud connections 19.

The perforations'20 of said two sections; are identical and in registration. Between the sections 17 and 18 .a sheet of preferably opaque frangible material 21, such as paper, is disposed. The board 16 is held upright and spaced fromthe supporting surface by a pair of standards 22 and 23 each provided with groove or way 24 within which the lateral edges of board 16 are receivable' Ways 24 likewise assist in holding together sections 1'1 and 18 forming board 16. The pins 25'usedwith this board are preferably made with a cylindrical untapered body 26 and enlarged head 27-. The bodies 26 are receivable fairly-snugly in perforations 20 so that the pins will not fall out even though they project only through the perforations of one of the sections 17 or'18' (Fig. 3).

The board 16 may be used for playing the same games as explained previously in connection with the structure of Fig. 1. The sheet 21' prevents the players .from observing, through the perforations, the directions and extent of the enclosure lines when the latterare drawn by each player around his arbitrarily selected Sheet 21 also likewise permits pins to be substituted for said enclosures, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 2. In this instance, each player inserts pins in arbitrarily selected" series and projecting only through the perforations in the adjacent section 1''! or 18 of w the board, leaving the sheet 21 unbroken. When play begins, other pins are used and are thrust clear through the board, fracturing the sheet within the perforations. When one player. in so inserting a pin knocks out one of the initially and partially inserted pins of his opponent, he knows that he has scored a hit, the dislodged pin falling into view under the board, as in Fig. 2. The sheet 21 is, of course, replaced with a new one at the start of each game.

,In a further modification, one of the sections- 17 or 18 may be formed of transparent material.

In this case the designs, symbols, enclosures or other media for indicating selected perforations may be drawn directly on sheet 21 by the defending player in such manner as to define the desired perforations. The other player faces the opaque side of the board and endeavors to thrust pinsinto the perforations of the transparent sections so selected by the other player. Moreover, a plurality of said sheets may be printed with symbols and outlines for the playing of various 'games.

and the different playing positions might be in- I dicated-in another, a football field, etc. The

In one instance,,a baseball field,

trarily selected printed sheet.

Various other games are readily arranged for play on the board 16. For example, one player may partially insert a. series of pins in such way as to define a letter or a well-known symbol, stating generally what the latter might be at the .start of play. The opponent then endeavors to discover the letter or symbol and knock out the positioned pins with a predetermined number of pins of his own.

It might be here noted that the plats or enclosures for the 'series of perforations may be formed of paper or cardboard as shown in Fig. 4 instead of being drawn with chalk or the like. Suitable means such as thumb tacks may be used for attaching such plats to the board. The plats, of course, are of such dimensions as not to overlap, when in place,'any of the perforations, so that their position may not be ascertained by the player on the opposite side of the board.

As previously intimated, the means of this invention readily lend themselves to modification in form and in use, but these are believed to becomprised within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Whatis claimed is:

1. Afgame board adapted to be positioned upright between two players and provided with two groupsof perforations, an enclosure for a series of theperforations" in one of said groups on each site sides of the board in the playing-of the game.

2. A game board adapted to be positioned upright between two players and provided with a plurality'of perforations, an enclosure on each face of the board and arbitrarily positioned by the respective players to enclose a series of perforations serving' as an unseen target for the opponent, and a plurality of pins adapted to be inserted through the perforations from opposite sides of the board in the playing of the game.

3. A game board adapted to be positioned upright between two players and provided with two groupsv of perforations, an enclosure for a series of the perforations in one of said groups on each face of the board-and arbitrarily posi-. tioned by each player for providing an unseen target for the opponent, and a plurality of pins differentiated one from another and adapted to be inserted through the perforations from oppo-.

site sides of the board in the playing of the game.

4. A game board adapted to be positioned upright between two players and provided with two groups of perforations, an enclosure fora series of the perforations in one of said groups on each face of the board and arbitrarily positioned by each player for providing an unseen target for the opponent, and a plurality of pins differentiated in groups and adapted to be inserted through the-perforations from opposite sides of the-board in the playing of the game.

- LOUIS COFFIN. 

